After being an affiliate member of Main Street America for the past two years, the Sumrall Main Street Association has been nationally accredited as a Main Street Program, while Hattiesburg has earned that distinction for the 28th year in a row.
The Accredited Main Street America Program, which is operated by Main Street America and the Mississippi Main Street Association, recognizes Main Street programs for meeting rigorous performance standards. The designation is given annually to those communities who have shown exceptional commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization through the Main Street Approach.
“It really brings a lot of legitimacy to our program,” said Sabreya DeLancey, executive director of the Sumrall Main Street Association. “Being in a small town with national recognition – that’s huge for us.
“It’s definitely a step up for us, but it will also allow us to access a few more resources that we couldn’t before, and to apply for different types of grants. It’s really just a big boost to the program itself.”
In addition to Sumrall and Hattiesburg, accredited – or re-accredited Main Street Communities for 2023 in Mississippi include Amory, Baldwyn, Batesville, Biloxi, Booneville, Byhalia, Cleveland, Clinton, Columbus, Greenville, Greenwood, Hernando, Holly Springs, Kosciusko, Laurel, Leake County, Louisville, Nettleton, New Albany, Ocean Springs, Pascagoula, Pearl, Philadelphia, Picayune, Pontotoc County, Ripley, Saltillo, Senatobia, Starkville, Tunica, Tupelo, Vicksburg, Water Valley, West Point, and Woodville.
“It feels really good – not just the fact that we’ve been able to maintain it, but that the city, the county, the board (of directors) and our partners all understand the significance of being part of the national Main Street program,” said Andrea Saffle, executive director of the Downtown Hattiesburg Association. “They all help us to meet the criteria (for accreditation).”
To quality for accreditation status, communities must meet a set of rigorous standards that include commitments to building grassroots revitalization programs, fostering strong public-private partnerships, nurturing economic opportunity for small businesses and entrepreneurs, and actively preserving historic places, spaces, and cultural assets.
“We have to go through the accreditation process every year – it’s fairly significant, and it’s a very specific process we have to go through to make sure we’re meeting all of the criteria,” Saffle said. “It is a process, and it has meaning – it’s not just a checkbox.”
In 2022, Mississippi Main Street's Designated communities generated 495 new businesses, 56 business expansions to existing businesses, 841 new jobs, 183 building rehabilitations, and 1,817 downtown living spaces. In addition, 79 public improvement projects were completed, as well as 24 new construction projects in historic downtown business districts.
More than $242 million was invested by the public and private sectors in 2022, and more than 42,255 volunteer hours were recorded.
“Now that we’re nationally accredited, we will start looking at other towns and networking that national network, outside of just Mississippi Main Street,” DeLancey said. “So I’m really excited for that.
“It could be working with them and sharing resources, like mimicking programs that are happening in cities our size around the country, versus just within our state.”
